The Draconic Empire
The Draconic Empire is one of the three major powers of Davos and home to the Dragonborn. Typically known for both their early days of conquest and for being the home of The Fiend King and the starting place of the Fiend War, the Empire is viewed very disfavorably by the other inhabitants of Davos, and the rest of the world, for that matter. The Empire of today is largely viewed as being in decline, since the Fiend War. Many of their old territories have been lost or gifted to the refugees of the war (mostly Halfings, Gnomes and Humans), they're wealth and military are considered much weaker than in their glory days, and much of their heritage has been lost. While most Dragonborn are known for their warrior code and heritage (and for being somewhat scary, as they are giant lizard men and mammals tend to be racist like that) many pride themselves on their nation's culture and art. Draconic cities tend to be large, beautiful and oozing with taste and wealth (especially the capital, Gno'Anch, which holds the Golden Palace of the emperor). Many, especially in higher circles, tend to prefer to present themselves with a more refined air and high manners, to reflect this. History The Rise of the Empire The rise of the Draconic empire began with the coastal city, Gno'Anch, future capital city of the whole empire. Lying to the west of Davos, the city was the first Dragonborn settlement to attain real wealth and power through trade, as ships began to rise and become a boon to merchants throughout the continent. As this occurred, wealth and culture spread throughout the other Dragonborn cities and villages, eventually forming the beginnings of a larger power within Davos. The next major leap forward for the Draconic people was the establishment of the Dragon Riders as an elite military force. While bonds had formed between dragons and other races before (particularly Dragonborn, as they share ancestry with the creatures, albeit, very far down the line), the organization was designed to fully integrate them into the already growing Draconic army, forming a well-organized establishment capable of taking on hundreds of members at a time. These new forces made the Draconic army an unparalleled threat across the continent, capturing several other city-states and bringing more than one third of the land into the empire. This height of the empire's power would last for centuries until the inevitable downfall. The Stagnation and Revolts The first major blow to the empire's immense strength came from the Dwarven Kingdom. The dwarves had constructed weapons initially designed for siege warfare, more powerful ballistas capable of piercing dragonhide and taking out the Riders. Human colonies bordering the empire began buying them in bulk and creating a firm barrier between their lands and the Empire. This halted their growth and forced the empire into stagnation. Another result is that dragons were hunted into endangerment, with it being widely believed that Metallic dragons are completely extinct. However, the next blow came from within. The ruling class of the Empire was made up of three distinct branches at this time. The wealthy, who controlled trade and commerce. The Emperor and other royals, who had all been born into positions of governing. And the Church of Bahamut, who held the spiritual center of the nation. Following the stagnation, goods and wealth within the Draconic Empire began to stagnate as well and the growing economy began to subside, hurting the lower classes the most. Following some minor outbursts among the populace (in particular, the legendary Riot of S'reh, a particularly bloody weeks long assault), the church began to incite new inflammatory doctrine. Based on old scripture and common knowledge that chromatic dragons were not used by the Riders (it is believed by most that chromatic dragons are untrainable due to their feral and erratic nature), the church proposed that the troubles the nation faced was not the fault of the rich or the government but of the chromatic races of Dragonborn. A section of the Bahamut-worshippers believe that the true chosen people of Bahamut are the Metallic dragonborn, while chromatics are children of Tiamat (Bahamut's evil counterpart), as he was Silver and she was made up of all the chromatic colors. The church attempted to use this doctrine to create a scapegoat amongst the populace, but it backfired horribly. While some devout followers took this new message and used it to try and force out their chromatic neighbors, the vast number of chromatics within the lower class merely caused more riots and more violent. Soon, the government had the military themselves get involved, and during this period, a controversial young soldier came to power. That was the black dragonborn warlock, Narjhan K'vorn, more commonly known now as The Fiend King. The Fiend War After becoming a general and allying himself with the highest levels of power within the empire, K'vorn opened a gateway to the Infernal realm and overtook the palace in the middle of the night. Forming a new army of various demon and devils, as well as soldiers loyal specifically to him, K'vorn launched an invasion on the rest of Davos. Coming to the people with promises to end their suffering and wage disparity, K'vorn even managed to gain a majority approval amongst his fellow dragonborn...at first. A revolutionary movement had taken hold underground as K'vorn began his expansion. And it began to grow more and more steadily as the tides of battle began to turn against The Fiend King. As K'vorn's nature became more and more unstable with Unified forces bearing down on him, the underground began communicating with the leaders of the defending armies. Eventually, before what we now know as the Horned Assault, the underground were able to sneak a small team into Gno'Anch through the cities of S'reh and G'rec. Once there, the assault team took the palace and assassinated K'vorn. During the following treaty, the Empire was cut down significantly, with lands returned to the growing Human Alliance and to the free people (halflings and gnomes mostly who did not belong to any of the three main nations). In return, the Dwarven Kingdom assisted in some rebuilding for the main empire cities, but not enough to return it to it's former status. The Empire would never be what it once was. In Recent Years The empire of today is a shell of its former self, kept alive through trading and deals with neighbors, but not viewed as anywhere near the threat it used to be. The golden city of Gno'Anch has fallen into ruin and disrepair in all but its wealthiest districts. The Church of Bahamut is still the primary religion but a much more lenient sect of it is now in power. The doctrine now is protection for all beings, as Bahamut would wish it. The present ruler is Empress Yameila Zen'hann, a silver dragonborn and one of the few left of her family (a high ranking noble household largely eradicated by K'vorn. While she is mostly beloved by her people, particularly in the lower class, she was appointed not by the other noble houses but by the church, making her a controversial figure in her government. In a grander perspective, the empire is still wealthy and powerful in comparison to most nations. But, given how far it has fallen, most of its citizens feel a sense of shame in their current state.